Cyran was not sure how to classify this new level of umbramancy he’d picked up somewhere along the line.

It was part of him - yet it wasn’t. His usual magic was something that was as much a part of him as his name or face, loathe as he was to admit it. The more he made use of it, the more it cling to him - each time he opened the gate, the flood became more and more difficult to contain. This magic was something… deeper. More. Something so ancient he could not contain it within his soul alone. The Darkheart dagger, so far, was the only suitable conduit he’d found to handle this mastery over the shadows without allowing it to consume him entirely.

Never before had he met someone with the same abilities as him. There was Del, who had a connection with the shadows, and a few dark magic users here and there, but nothing quite like this.

He could not hide the troubled expression on his face as he nodded, memorizing the very application that Hylltywyll was describing. It would not be too terribly difficult to replicate. The ex-assassin was old hat at the manipulation of memory as a consequence of his power. Stealing away knowledge, the ability to control a crowd and redirect attacks…

“I find myself glad that they weren’t.” Cyran murmured. Oriole took a step back. Andromeda did not, though without access to magic once more she made no sudden movements.

Learning the spell itself was nice, though Cyran was still unsure where the ability had come from. Taking a step forward, Cyran figured it would not hurt to ask. “This ability… this aura. You wouldn’t happen to know where it comes from, would you? How it happens?”

Hylltywyll looked at the two assistants with amusement, the difference between their characters more obvious with each action. The boy was more timid and the girl was the opposite, She was almost defiant in the way she seemed to refuse to let herself be intimidated or step back.

His attention turned back to Cyran as he pondered his latest question for a moment.

"Hm, what makes you think I know that kind of information? And, even if I did know it, that wasn't part of our deal. We taught each other something, so the deal's complete. Unless you want to make another deal..." He said coyly, finishing with an innocent shrug. Why would he give away anything for free? Maybe Cyran didn't have a lot of dealings with Fae.

His gaze drifted back to the two children, his urge for mischief calling him to mess with them even while potentially making a deal. It was hard to resist sometimes. Especially when there were two tempting targets. Trying to get Andromeda's defiant facade to crack sounded fun, and he was sure Oriole would give him a great reaction to laugh at.

'What's wrong? Have somewhere else to go?" Hylltywyll asked the boy as he suddenly appeared on standing on his shoulders, leaning over Oriole's head from behind to look him in the eyes, Hylltywyll's head upside down in front of him. The little Fae's hands held onto either side of Oriole's head, the claw on the middle finger of his left hand extending out, safely away from Oriole's face, but obviously visible in the corner of Oriole's eye.

Ah, he really couldn't help himself sometimes.

---

Blink

Admittedly Cyran was taken back by Hylltywyll’s response. Not the lack of information, but the venom in those words. And all this talk about a deal…

Cyran was not overly familiar with the fae, but he did recognize the verbage Hylltywyll was using - the art of the deal. Promises and pacts were what they did. Cyran crossed his arms, narrowing his eye. His tone, taking a frigid edge as he realized this conversation was not as amicable as he’d perhaps thought.

“I ask because it is rare I get the opportunity to talk to dark magic users, is all. I find myself curious whether you had any perspective on this particular brand of magic that I might have been lacking.” He paused, tilting his head. “Nor do I remember entering any formal deal. But if you truly have nothing else of value, then I won’t hold you up…”

Before he could say anything else, Hylltywyll evidently decided that he was bored with this little magic lesson and decided that toying with Cyran’s own apprentices was a better use of his time.

In a blink Hylltywyll was on Oriole’s shoulders.

The young thief flinched, mouth hanging open in shock as a talon hovered dangerously in the corner of his eye.

The darkness stirred around Cyran.

“I do advise that you back away.” His voice, calm - dangerously so. Cyran did not move, but he didn’t need to. “I appreciate that you’ve shared your knowledge, but if you harm my kids, I won’t be so inclined to stay my blade. Please just leave them alone.”

"Huh?" Hylltywyll looked up at Cyran, his mischievous smile fading to an annoyed, slightly pouting frown.

"I do advise" Hylltywyll began in a mocking tone, repeating Cyran's words back at him "-you take the stick out of-" Hylltywyll cut himself off and patted Oriole on the head with his right hand, free of the wicked talon. "Oops, wouldn't want to say that in front of the sweet little children." He said with a smirk, feigning innocence and pretending he actually cared about not swearing in front of them.

He shifted his position on Oriole's shoulders to face Cyran, his right hand on the top of Oriole's head and his left, taloned hand hanging at his side, no longer touching the boy at all.

"I don't appreciate being threatened for no reason. I haven't harmed him at all. I just asked him what was wrong. Aren't I so caring?" Hylltywyll teased, though nothing he said could be a lie. He really hadn't done any harm to Oriole. He looked at the boy and said in a lower voice, as if he was trying to whisper to him, but making sure he was just loud enough that Cyran could still hear him as well. "Overprotective, isn't he? Is he always like this with you? Does he act the same with her?" He asked, nodding his head toward Andromeda.

It was funny how perspective warped a situation. Fear sunk its gnarled claws into one’s psyche, filled the crevices with doubts and whispers of harmful intentions that lurked in darkened corners. Unfortunately, Oriole was the most subject to this more than most. Which was precisely why Hylltywyll targeted him, if Cyran had to hazard a guess. Regardless, what was likely a little unremarkable teasing to whatever kind of unfathomable creature he was signified an event which had Oriole shaking… and Cyran immediately on guard for his ward and apprentice.

His own feathers were not ruffled by Hylltywyll’s incessant mocking - it would take more than that to get under his skin. Unfortunately, the situation from atop Oriole’s shoulders was teetering dangerously close to more. Oriole remained stone-still, having had enough training to hold himself while Hylltywyll waved his claws haphazardly in the air. Sharp enough to slice skin and leave a nasty mark.

Cyran’s eyebrows raised. “No, you haven’t.” He recognized the tricks Hylltywyll was using, little verbal ticks which betrayed when he was skirting around a lie he could not tell. “But do you have the intention to harm or scare him?” A direct question would be harder to answer, to skirt around. Not that he needed to. Hesitation to answer was answer enough.

Unfortunately for Hylltywyll, Cyran was old hat at reading past lies.

And unfortunately for Cyran, he was definitely pushover enough for Hylltywyll to take advantage of.

Oriole flinched as Hylltywyll crooned to him, taunting. The young thief had been in adverse situations - but never this close and personal. “Master Cyran?” He muttered, ignoring the question entirely.

Andromeda kept her knives trained in the air, ready to let fly at a moment’s notice.

This was not good. The last thing Cyran wanted was to make a scene. It would attract the wrong kind of attention, and his status here was already so shaky. Not to mention this creature had the equivalent of a knife to his kid’s throat.

Cyran tucked away his knife with a frown. It was time to deescalate the situation.

“Alright then. I can tell you’re testing the boundaries of what you can and can’t do to get a rise out of me or my charges. I am not interested in entertaining this. So how about a deal? A true deal, this time. I don’t care what you do - you can come and go as you please, so long as you never intentionally pose a harm or threat - or perform anything malicious that causes fear - to anyone who lives in this orphanage but myself.” He chose his words carefully, hoping there was no loophole in his own offer. “In exchange, you get magic, tricks, information whenever you show up my doorstep. I don’t even have to ask any in return. Just so long as you abide by these rules, you can ask me for knowledge or help whenever you want. How does that sound?”

Hylltywyll snickered to himself. He could see the recognition in Cyran's eyes. He knew he couldn't tell a lie, but that didn't mean he couldn't intentionally be misleading with his words. Maybe he had interacted with Fae before. Not entirely surprising. There was a recent uptick in Fae activity.

"Harm? No. Scare? Maybe a little." He answered with a chuckle, deciding to just be direct. "But it's not my fault if he wets his pants just from having me stand on his shoulders and give him a little pat on the head." He said, doing just that once again. Really, he was expecting a scream or a jump, but the kid had hardly reacted to him teleporting onto his shoulders at all. He had just frozen up like he was some kind of monster looming over him. A little disappointing, really.

Hylltywyll glanced at Andromeda, seeing her ready to throw her knives at him. Maybe he should have tried to scare her instead. She probably would have tried to stab him or something. At least that would have been something instead of standing on top of a popsicle.

His attention turned back to Cyran and he listened intently to the sudden offer. So, he was willing to make a formal deal, but only for the sake of some children. In his urge for a little chaos, it looked like Hyll had accidentally found the man's greatest weakness.

This was a pretty good deal. Those kids had borrowed their master's dark magic, and those were both new spells to Hylltywyll, whose magic was pretty much self taught. Having someone he could come learn some new spells from regularly sounded pretty good, but he knew he had to think it through carefully. Any loopholes could be a problem.

"How can I tell if someone lives here if they're walking around the streets or travelling the continent? I don't know all of this place's residents and memorizing them all sounds like a pain. And you might take in new ones I wouldn't know about." He began, picking apart the flaws in Cyran's offer. "And, like this brat, I can't help it if some kids are frightened just of the sight of me. How am I supposed to come here to learn magic if I can't enter the building without some wimpy kid screaming? And magic, tricks, and information is too vague. You could try and teach me useless things. Stating I can ask for knowledge or help whenever I want also doesn't mean you have to give it. And how am I supposed to know if you're even here or not? You can't teach me if you're not here when I show up."

Hylltywyll took the metal claw off of his finger and slipped it into the shadow of his hood before he continued.

"How about this? I will never intentionally harm or threaten anyone inside this orphanage, except you, unless they try to harm or threaten me first. I also won't intentionally harm either of these two, even outside of the orphanage, unless they try to harm or threaten me first. In exchange, I can come and go from this orphanage as I please, and you have to teach me whatever spells, tricks, or knowledge I ask for, that you're capable of teaching me, whenever I meet you in any location. How does that sound?"

Hylltywyll felt that this deal was pretty fair. He'd even included some words that were in Cyran's favor, like specifying Cyran has to actually be capable of teaching him what he asked for. The wording of his whole deal was also much more carefully thought out. Cyran clearly didn't know the difference between the phrase "pose a threat" and "threaten". Hylltywyll posed a threat to all those children just by being there, even if he didn't intend to actually harm any of them. He also had to cover himself in case anyone that actually posed a threat to him lived in that orphanage. Being able to defend himself sounded fair to him. Of course, there was a little hidden wording in his own favor as well, but he doubted Cyran would catch it.

His suspicions were only confirmed as Hylltywyll answered honestly; though still hidden behind layers of snark and disdain. It was a regrettably small mercy that he didn’t want to harm Oriole, but Cyran still didn’t trust his intentions. He’d had enough run-ins with the Fae to understand that their ‘pranks’ veered anywhere from stealing people’s sense of direction to bodily harm. The fine line between harmless and malicious was only dictated by their whims.

The retired assassin knew he’d likely tipped his hand by so adamantly insisting on the protection of the kids. But when it came to the children, Cyran wasn’t allowed to take any risks. It, unfortunately, was his weakness. There was hardly any price Cyran wasn’t willing to accept for his family.

… But of course Hylltywyll had problems with the proffered deal because they were inconvenient to him. Cyran suppressed a grimace as Hylltywyll picked through everything wrong with his deal the way a carnivore picked chicken off a bone.

He nodded, mulling over the counter-deal in his mind, searching for any loopholes which might pose a threat to the kids. It was mostly solid…

“You can clearly discern my presence from a great distance away, so there’s no need for you to play dumb.” Cyran pointed out after a moment’s thought, eyes narrowed. He had to think about this carefully. Clearly Hylltywyll was intentional about his wording, and Cyran didn’t doubt that picking through his offer was the fae’s own opportunity to add in whatever verbiage he might want to the deal.

One had to be careful when making deals with the fae.

Cyran supposed love meant he was always the one playing a fool’s game, but that was just fine with him.

“So how about this – you will not intentionally harm or threaten anyone inside Shade's Valley orphanage unless they intentionally harm or threaten you first. I am exempt from this stipulation. Next, you will not intentionally harm or threaten Oriole and Andromeda –“ He gestured towards both of his apprentices, the former of whom was beginning to relax now that Hylltywyll had put his weapon away – “Either in or outside of Shade's Valley orphanage, unless they intentionally harm or threaten you first.” He was content with those conditions, confident his wards would not pick fights they couldn’t win. “In exchange, you can come and go from the orphanage freely when you know I am at Shade's Valley orphanage. If I am not at this location, Oriole and Andromeda may invite you in. I also have to teach you whatever spells, tricks, or knowledge you ask for that I am capable of, whenever you meet me in any location. Is this agreeable?”

Hylltywyll sat down on Oriole's shoulders, his legs kicking lightly in front of him on either side of Oriole's head. One arm rested across the head in front of him while the other propped up his chin as he listened, like a bored student sitting at a desk.

He furrowed his brow in slight annoyance as Cyran accused him of playing dumb. When he told Cyran he had sensed someone with dark magic, he never said how far away he sensed him from. He also couldn't tell exactly who it was. This guy was presuming a lot, expecting Hylltywyll to be able to just pick him out anywhere like that. He wouldn't even be able to tell him apart from someone else that had a high enough level of dark magic just by sensing their mana. He didn't like telling people otherwise when they thought he was more powerful than he actually was, but sometimes deals required a bit more clarity of someone's capabilities.

"They may invite me in? That means they don't have to, and I doubt they would want to. I want to come and go as I please whenever I want, not just when you're home. Just because I can sense someone with dark magic inside doesn't mean I know for certain it's you. Does someone else with dark magic live there? Do you have friends that might visit while you're away that have dark magic? How can I know you're home? That condition isn't fair." Hylltywyll countered, crossing his arms in front of him on top of Oriole's head.

… Hylltywyll wasn’t going to make this easy, was he?

“Tell me why you want unrestricted access to Shade’s Valley orphanage and I will consider it.” Cyran crossed his arms, unwilling to budge entirely on this point. The entire purpose of the bargain was to protect the children. It was more difficult for him to do so when he knew that there was a chance Hylltywyll would be lurking around when he wasn’t there. He’d effectively taken out the stipulation of scaring the children - he could not harm or threaten them, but based on the way he’d treated Oriole, Cyran was under no illusion that he would not try harmless little ‘pranks’.

As to why he wished for unfettered access to Shade’s Valley, Cyran wasn’t sure. Boredom, perhaps. A source of entertainment.

He tapped his finger on the side of his arm.

“Earlier, you stated, ‘I was just looking for someone with some strong dark magic, and I found them’. Whatever ability you used to accomplish this feat would mean you had to have sensed me - or at the very least, my magical signature - from outside the confines of the house. If you feel that again, then that means you can be confident that I’m present here. No one else who lives in Shade’s Valley possesses dark magic, and I don’t have any friends that do, either.”

He swallowed as he said that last part. Though it hurt to admit, it was technically the truth. Cyran knew a few people with connections to the Shadows, but that was a faint murmur, barely even enough to constitute as a magical presence. And the only friend he had with any semblance of dark magic ability was Caedes.

Well. Former friend, if the changeling had anything to save about it.

No, Hylltywyll wasn't going to make this easy in the slightest.

"Why would I want to not have unrestricted access? Who likes being told they're not allowed to go somewhere? Hmph. Really, you trying so hard to not let me be in there just makes me want to be there more. I'll probably show up more often if you say I can't than if you just gave me free access." Hylltywyll said with a chuckle and a shrug. He didn't need access to the orphanage. He didn't need anything in there, and he didn't even want to interact with the children very much. Children are gross. He just hated being told no, and he saw his access to the orphanage being restricted as being told no. He was already making a lot of concessions in agreeing not to harm any of the children or the two apprentices, even if he didn't want to harm them anyways. Cyran, in his rush to assure their safety, was just tempting Hyll more and more to cause some trouble, really.

Hylltywyll played with Oriole's hair as he listened to Cyran and thought through the revisions to the contract he'd have to make in order to assure he wasn't inconvenienced by it as much as possible. Cyran would find out just how difficult it could be to make a deal with a Fae that didn't come back to bite him, possibly literally.

"Confident does not mean certain.... Hm... So, if I detect any dark magic within the orphanage, I'm allowed in? I don't need to know that it's you?" Hylltywyll asked, looking at Cyran skeptically.

The worst part was that Cyran knew hylltywyll wasn’t lying or exaggerating. That was a common quirk of child psychology. When one is curious about something they couldn’t have, you usually had to give them what they want so that they lost interest. Cyran did make a mental note that Hylltywyll hadn’t exactly answered his question.

“You’ll probably show up more often.” Cyran repeated under his breath. Hylltywyll was, of course, telling the truth, because there was hardly any lie to be found in conditionals.

He crossed his arms.

Cyran just couldn’t take any chances.

“Then you’ll be around more often when I’m there.” Oh, he was certain he was inviting more trouble and harassment on his end, as children who still didn’t receive what they weren’t allowed to have were wont to throw tantrums. It was a good thing he was used to handling them. “My point remains. You can travel freely in and out of Shade’s Valley when - and only when - you sense the presence of dark magic that isn’t yours within the property.” Even if it wasn’t Cyran’s, there were few who visited the orphanage with magic like his own, and even if there was someone else here with dark power, then Hylltywyll would either have to deal with one of Cyran’s own guests… or one of his foes.

Of course, he didn’t want Hylltywyll to step onto the outskirts of the property and sense his own magic as a loophole, either. But the rest of those terms, the retired assassin could live with.

“Are these terms agreeable?”

"Tch." Hylltywyll lightly clicked his tongue and pouted once Cyran noticed the little loophole he wasn't going to say anything about. He crossed his arms and laid them on top of Oriole's head in front of him.

"What if you find a way to hide your magic from my senses?" He asked, though he didn't sound very concerned. He sounded more like he was just trying to make up more possible problems out of spite. He already knew this deal was mostly done and trying to make it more troublesome for Cyran would just give the Elf time to notice any other flaws in his wording. It'd be better to just finalize it now.

He found the terms pretty agreeable, but he needed to make a final agreement altogether to make sure nothing was missed. He looked directly at Cyran, taking things more seriously now as he spoke.

"I will never intentionally harm or threaten anyone inside this orphanage, except you, unless they try to harm or threaten me first. I also won't intentionally harm either of your apprentices, Oriole or Andromeda, even outside of the orphanage, unless they try to harm or threaten me first. In exchange, I can travel freely in and out of Shade's Valley Orphanage whenever I please as long as I sense the presence of dark magic that isn't me inside or can see you inside the orphanage, and you have to give me whatever spells, tricks, magic, or knowledge I ask for, that you're capable of giving me, whenever I meet you in any location. Do you agree?"

Cyran shrugged. To be honest, he did have a… passing knowledge of how to conceal one’s presence from magical detection, though that was more for evading detection from scrying and the like. It did interest him to develop something that might conceal his own magical signature, though Cyran lacked the magical finesse and education to craft something so complex. The enchanted sheaths, he’d only been able to create with instinct, luck, and Del’s own expertise with the forge. Cyran himself was unable to harness that kind of raw power without a conduit. Creating something to cloak Del, or the entire orphanage - it was far beyond him.

“I won’t lie and say it will never happen, though it’s doubtful.” He admitted, for the sake of honesty and being on even ground. There was no point in lying to Hylltywyll, especially when the dark fae was clearly trying to poke holes in this argument. There was a funny little way, Cyran had picked up on, that Hylltywyll worked his way out of a deal which did not favor him. Claiming ignorance on a matter was clever, and not something Cyran could have been able to verify under any other circumstance. The best way to circumvent it was to supply an explanation off the bat. It was harder to claim ignorance when, if the contract was ever violated, Cyran had better documentation that Hylltywyll had knowingly violated the terms.

“Though if I do come up with such a technique, you are well within the terms of your end of the agreement to ask me how to see through it yourself.”

That way, Cyran was not jilted out of any extra security, Hylltywyll could still have free access when Cyran was around… and if the wards were ever broken, Cyran would know exactly who’d betrayed his trust.

The semantics were a non-worry at this moment, anyways. It seemed that they had reached an equilibrium - a point in the negotiations in which both parties were satisfied at what they gained and what they’d conceded. Now, there was almost this… power that surrounded Hylltywyll as he spoke, as if the gravity of the situation itself gave magic to the binding contract.

Cyran had never entered a deal with the fae before. He’d do so a thousand times over if it meant protecting his family. His kids, his friends, his love. No matter what parts of himself Cyran had to give.

He thought he could hear his father’s cold laughter as he held out his hand.

“I agree.”

Hlltywyll's serious expression immediately changed to a devious smile as Cyran agreed to the deal. He wouldn't give him any time to reconsider what he just agreed to.

"I agree!" He said eagerly, and there was one final feeling of power as the contract became binding. As if they'd both suddenly been wrapped in chains for a fraction of a second before they vanished along with the sound of a lock clicking closed. Oriole and Andromeda, with their names specifically in the contract, also felt something, though not as strongly as Cyran and Hylltywyll did.

 He was glad he'd laid out the final version of the deal himself. Cyran hadn't even noticed that he'd changed a few words here and there. Just things that would make the contract more convenient for him. Subtle things. Conveniently leaving out the part about only being able to freely enter when he sensed Cyran inside. Changing the word teach to give. These didn't sound like much, but they mattered a lot in a Fae contract. Not being able to hurt some children that he never planned on hurting anyways was nothing compared to having a free tap of magic and knowledge.

"Why don't we celebrate the completion of our contract? We could eat a meal together. I am a little hungry." He said as he laid forward, almost draping himself over Oriole's head like a cat and smirking as his stomach grumbled against the back of Oriole's head. Not a threat, but something he was sure would make the easily scared boy uncomfortable and get some reaction out of the overly caring guardian.

The way Hylltywyll’s smile took a turn for the gleeful made Cyran suddenly fearful of the fact that he’d missed something in their final deal. What could he have? The only thing that had changed was the phrase give instead of teach, but that wasn’t something he thought could even matter… could it? He didn’t exactly have a way to give magic to people, which theoretically meant he was not capable of fulfilling that part of the contract. Unless Hylltywyll had a way of taking it.

The prospect was troubling.

And yet, as the deal was sealed, there was nothing Cyran could do about it, save hope that he had not made an impossibly stupid decision for the sake of the children. It was not that Cyran would ever regret making such a choice; but if he were ever put in a situation where he could no longer keep caring for them because of something he’d done for their sake, Cyran didn’t think he’d be able to live with himself.

Such a vicious cycle he’d slipped into.

He sighed as Hylltywyll stretched, much like a cat who’d caught the cream.

“Please get off of me.” Oriole muttered underneath his breath.

Cyran moved to pluck Hylltywyll by the scruff; it wasn’t harsh, but it wasn’t necessarily gentle, either. Cold indifference and neutrality his shield in moments like these. He supposed he should treat his new ‘guest’ with some hospitality.

“Alright then. Let’s eat some dinner.”

He nodded towards Oriole and Andromeda to make their way back inside. Just because Hylltywyll was allowed inside didn’t mean he was interested in playing happy family.